Couple plead guilty to embezzlement from country club in Waterford

A husband and wife who embezzled approximately $60,000 from the Great Neck Country Club in Waterford have pleaded guilty and successfully completed drug rehabilitation programs.

Eric Emmons, 31, who is residing at a halfway house in East Hartford, pleaded guilty Tuesday in New London Superior Court to first-degree larceny. Arrested in November 2013, he served some prison time before being released to a rehabilitation program. At his sentencing in August, his attorney, Peter E. Scillieri, will argue for a sentence of time served, followed by five years of probation, so that Emmons can continue with his rehabilitation.

Tracy Lane-Emmons, 34, pleaded guilty in April to first-degree larceny and violation of probation. Also arrested in November, she was released from prison to the Fresh Start rehabilitation program in Hartford in February. She has remained drug-free, and her attorney, Gregg W. Wagman, is expected to argue at her sentencing for a sentence of time served followed by five years of probation. Her next court date is June 24.

Prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla said the country club has been compensated by its insurance company, which may seek restitution from the couple.

Lane-Emmons began working as a bookkeeper at the country club in May 2013. Emmons, her boyfriend at the time, was hired as a groundskeeper in June 2013 and fired in August 2013 due to attendance problems, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

They were later married.

In October 2013, owner Ann Mortimer reported to police that money was missing from the country club and its restaurant, Langley’s, which is run as a separate business for accounting purposes.

Lane-Emmons was in charge of reconciling the two businesses’ various bank accounts. She had access to the computerized checkbooks and paper check stock but was not authorized to create checks or sign them, according to the affidavit.

The investigation found that Lane-Emmons fraudulently created 101 business checks and that she and Emmons cashed them at Liberty Bank or Charter Oak Federal Credit Union branches.

She admitted to embezzling the money. Emmons also admitted to his role in the scheme, saying he had “screwed up” and had used the money to support a drug habit, according to Tytla.

At the time of her arrest, Lane-Emmons was on probation for shoplifting from the Wal-Mart in Groton, according to her court file. In pleading guilty in the embezzlement case, she admitted to violating the terms of her probation.